Interview with Alexander Horak on combit Report Server

The recently released combit Report Server offers a new ad-hoc designer, server-side printing, and conditional formatting. In an exclusive interview with Learnxpress, Alexander Horak, Head of Development, combit revealed additional information to most important questions about the latest release of combit Report Server.

What is the main purpose of combit Report Server 3?

Alexander Horak: We’ve created combit Report Server to enable users even without IT knowledge to create impressive reports and distribute them through various channels. In addition the range of supported data sources in combit Report Server is outstanding. The whole package makes our Report Server to one of the most agile Self Service Reporting solutions on the market. Handling Big Data has just become a piece of cake.

Will I get combit Report Server 3 if I buy List & Label?

Alexander Horak: No, you won’t. Our Report Server is a stand-alone product, browser based and ready to be used out-of-the-box, for people with less or no IT knowledge. List & Label is directed towards developers with profound IT knowledge. Although List & Label and Report Server are both reporting solutions they are directed to different target groups. What they have in common is the Designer at their core: The Report Server Designer is based on the List & Label Designer.

Furthermore, the project file format can easily be interchanged between both products. That said, there are still synergy effects for List & Label users. This is why we’ve started a cross-selling program for List & Label developers, which means, that we established an appealing incentive in the form of a profit participation for current List & Label customers with active subscription when they sell our Report Server.

What are the features of Ad-hoc Designer?

Alexander Horak: In the new Ad-hoc Designer assistants help users to rapidly create simple lists and charts independent of the Report Server Designer. For more complex tasks, it is possible to switch over to the powerful Report Server Designer at any time.

Does Query Assistant include IntelliSense functionality like Visual Studio?

Alexander Horak: No. it doesn’t. That would require coding skills which is not intended for our Report Server customers.

What is the benefit of Digital Signature Field?

Alexander Horak: The digital Signature Field for PDF Export is a feature that came with version 21 of List & Label and now has been implemented in Report Server 3. The functionality is that PDFs can now contain a field for a digital signature or a digital certificate. A click on the signature field is all that is needed to trigger the signing process.

Can you share with us the benefits of In-Memory Mode for Data Sources?

Alexander Horak: The in-memory mode for data sources of CSV file type and Excel file enables features such as sorting and grouping that were not available for these data sources before.

Is there any plan to release free edition of both List & Label and combit Report Server 3?

Alexander Horak: At the moment there is no plan to offer free editions of our reporting solutions. To test List & Label we provide a free fully functional 30-day-trial. For those who want to check out combit Report Server, we offer a free online demo. Additionally it is possible to test combit Report Server with own data sources in a fully functional trial.

Why combit Report Server 3 is not released during List & Label release in November?

Alexander Horak: As I mentioned before, List & Label and combit Report Server are two different solutions with different target groups. If we would release them at one go, this would surely confuse our customers. Additionally, the slight shift in release dates allows our QA staff to fully concentrate on each product – this ensures quality releases with no compromises.

Anand Narayanaswamy is the editor-in-chief of Learnxpress. He was a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP) for a period of 9 years. He is a ASPInsider based in Trivandrum, Kerala State, India. Anand is the author of Community Server Quickly published by Packt Publishing.